Ghostland
Documentary Road movie, length 86 Min. format 1080p
The life of the Ju/'Hoansi Bushmen in the 21’st century is marked by hunger and cultural eradication. Life in the vast Kalahari desert has changed for one of the most ancient cultures on our planet: the lifesaving and nurturing hunt has been forbidden by law by the Namibian government in 1990. Fences are now dividing the former endless open land of the dry savannah. The former nomads are now pressed into an unused life in fixed housing and are forced to live of spare gifts from the government or, if so, adventurous tourists.
This is the base situation from which our journey starts, to visit a group of Ju/'Hoansi Bushmen in the northeast of Namibia to take and accompany them on a journey to the world of “the Others” as well in Namibia as also in Europe.
A journey with switched indication marks: form the discovered to the explorer, from the tourist attraction to the tourist, from the beggar to the teacher.
It is simultaneously a challenge as well as a brand new opportunity for “them” as well as “us”. A view on contradiction, a mirror in which we have to face ourselves, that exposes our “civilized” world as well as our modern rites; an exchange of roles viewed through the eyes of an ancient but dying period. The film “Ghostland”, based on the traditional nomad life, shows the unavoidable fusion of their native way with the “modern” world at home as well as on the journey. We’re taking their position between the worlds and achieve by this one last look on the nearly extinct Ju/'Hoansi as well as ourselves and the “civilized” world we live in.
A journey with switched indication marks: form the discovered to the explorer, from the tourist attraction to the tourist, from the beggar to the teacher.
It is simultaneously a challenge as well as a brand new opportunity for “them” as well as “us”. A view on contradiction, a mirror in which we have to face ourselves, that exposes our “civilized” world as well as our modern rites; an exchange of roles viewed through the eyes of an ancient but dying period. The film “Ghostland”, based on the traditional nomad life, shows the unavoidable fusion of their native way with the “modern” world at home as well as on the journey. We’re taking their position between the worlds and achieve by this one last look on the nearly extinct Ju/'Hoansi as well as ourselves and the “civilized” world we live in.
